


24601 - Part 1

by Raven31claw



Category: Les Misérables - All Media Types
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-01-11
Updated: 2018-01-11
Packaged: 2019-03-03 08:10:18
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 5,758
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13337031
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Raven31claw/pseuds/Raven31claw
Summary: In this take on Les Miserables, the musical is set not in 19th century France but in today's America. With few changes to the original script and with a couple interesting takes on characters, the fanfic reveals that the themes Victor Hugo wrote about 200 years ago are still relevant in 2018.Part 1 takes places form the beginning to Fantine's death.





	24601 - Part 1

24601

Based on the musical Les Misérables by Alain Boublil and Claude-Michel Schonberg 

Based on the book by Victor Hugo 

Sean Newhouse 

Part 1 – Fantine

Scene 1 – Prison  
(Overture begins. A chain gang of five new prisoners is forced to walk through a prison covered in rust and sludge. The central walkway is flanked by rows of dorm room sized prison cells occupied by six or more men. It smells like shit. The prisoners violently press against their bars. The noise is overwhelming.)

Prisoners  
Look down, look down   
Don’t look ‘em in the eye  
Look down, look down,   
You’re here until you die

Chain Gang #1  
The sun is strong  
It’s hot as hell below

Prisoners  
Look down, look down,   
There’s twenty years to go 

Chain Gang #2  
I’ve done no wrong!  
Sweet Jesus hear my prayer!

Prisoners  
Look down, look down,  
Sweet Jesus doesn’t care

Chain Gang #3  
I know she’ll wait,   
I know that she’ll be true!

Prisoners  
Look down, look down,  
They’ve all forgotten you

Chain Gang #4  
When I get free ya won’t see me   
Here for dust!

(Prison guards hits this individual with a baton) 

Prisoners  
Look down, look down   
Don’t look ‘em in the eye

Prisoner #5 (young, white)   
How long O Lord  
Before you let me die?

Prisoners  
Look down, look down,  
You’ll always be a slave,  
Look down, look down   
You’re standing in your grave 

(Cut to a bureaucratic office. Javert, a young woman in her late twenties, sips coffee at her impeccably organized desk covered with manila folders. The steady rhythm of the prisoners is heard in the background.) 

Javert   
Now bring me prisoner 24601

(Valjean, a middle-aged Latino man, timidly enters the office.)

Your time is up   
And your parole’s begun   
(patronizing) You know what that means

Valjean  
Yes, it means I’m free

Javert  
NO!  
It means you get  
Your yellow ticket-of-leave  
You are a thief

Valjean   
I stole a loaf of bread!

Javert   
You robbed a house!

Valjean   
I broke a window pane!  
My sister’s child was close to death  
And we were starving!

Javert

(Hands Valjean his yellow ticket-of-leave)  
And you will starve again   
Unless you learn the meaning of the law. 

Valjean  
I know the meaning of those 19 years  
A slave of the law

Javert

(Looks at Valjean’s file)

Five years for what you did  
The rest because you tried to run   
Yes 24601

Valjean 

My name is Jean Valjean

Javert

And I am Javert  
Do not forget my name   
Do not forget me  
24601

Scene 2 – Bus  
(A bus carrying released prisoners drives through the city, dropping the passengers off at a non-descript location in the early morning.) 

Prisoners   
(not seen on screen) 

Look down, look down   
You will always be a slave  
Look down, look down  
You’re standing in your grave 

(Valjean gets off from the bus and looks around, realizing he is finally free.) 

Scene 3 – Apple Orchard   
(Cut to Valjean picking apples primarily with other Latinos.) 

Supervisor  
(white, holding the yellow ticket)

You’ll have to go  
I’ll pay you off for the day   
Collect your bits and pieces there  
And be on your way  
(Hands Valjean a check)

Valjean 

You have given me half  
What the other men get!  
This handful of tin   
Wouldn’t buy my sweat!

Laborer 

You broke the law  
It’s there for people to see   
Why should you get the same   
As honest men like me? 

Valjean   
(Storming away from the orchard)

And now I know how freedom feels  
The jailer always at your heels  
It is the law!  
This piece of paper in my hand  
That makes me cursed throughout the land  
It is the law!  
Like a cur  
I walk the street,  
The dirt beneath their feet.

Scene 4 – Hotel  
(Valjean is attempting to find shelter in a run-down hotel.)

Concierge  
(White female)

My rooms are full   
And I’ve no supper to spare  
I’d like to help a stranger  
All we want is to be fair

Valjean   
(Visibly angry)

I will pay in advance   
I can sleep in a barn   
You see how dark it is   
I’m not some kind of dog!

(At this point the Christian and American paraphernalia in the hotel is visible) 

Owner   
(Emerges from office. Texan accent. White male. Has his hand on his gun holster)

You leave my house   
Or feel the weight of my rod  
We’re law-abiding people here  
Thanks be to God

Scene 4 – Outside Bench   
(Valjean walks solitary. He settles to spend the night on a bench, causing onlookers to glance cautiously and move away from the area.)

Bishop (Hispanic)   
(Approaches Valjean)

Come in sir, for you are weary  
And the night is cold out here.   
Though our lives are very humble   
What we have we have to share.

(Valjean moves away for the bishop. The bishop sits next to Valjean on the bench.)

There is wine here to revive you.  
There is bread to make you strong.   
There’s a bed to rest till morning –   
Rest from pain, and rest from wrong.

Scene 5 – Bishop’s Dining Room   
(Valjean, the Bishop, and the Bishop’s sister dine. Valjean struggles to follow edicate cues while the Bishop’s sister looks visibly uncomfortable. The Bishop peacefully eats his dinner. The dining room, and the house, are intricately decorated. They eat and drink with silver, and two lit silver candlesticks decorate the screen.) 

Scene 6 – Bishop’s Living Room   
(It is late in the night. Valjean lays restlessly on the bishop’s luxury sofa. He gets up and goes to the dining room where the silverware and candlesticks remain on the table. He looks at them mysteriously.) 

Valjean 

He let me eat my fill  
I had the lion’s share  
The silver in my hand   
Cost twice what I had earned  
In all those nineteen years   
That lifetime of despair  
And yet he trusted me.  
The old fool trusted me –  
He’s done his bit of good  
I played the grateful serf  
And thanked him like I should   
But when the house was still,  
I got up in the night   
Took the silver

(Grabs the silverware and cups from the table)

Took my flight! 

Scene 7 – Street   
(Valjean walks along a busy street, expertly hiding the stolen silver. A rowdy group of white teens who are damaging property, drinking, and likely smoking weed is ahead of him. A police car waits idly. The group fades away, and Valjean passes the police car, fearfully. It is quiet for a few moments, Valjean believes he’s succeeded. The cop lights turn on.)

Scene 8 – Jail   
(Shows Valjean getting violently arrested, booked, and handcuffed. Before he is thrown behind bars, the bishop shows up. His sister is holding the candlesticks.)

Constable #1 (White)

Tell his reverence your story 

Constable #2 (Black)

Let us see if he’s impressed 

#1

You were lodging there last night (patronizing)

#2

You were the honest bishop’s guest 

#1

And then out of Christian goodness   
When he learned about your plight 

#2 

You maintain he made a present of this silver-

Bishop 

That is right   
But my friend you left so early  
Surely something slipped your mind 

(The bishop takes the candlesticks from his sister and gives them to Valjean. The sister is in disbelief as are the constables.) 

You forgot I gave these also   
Would you leave the best behind?  
So Messieurs you may release him   
For this man has spoken true  
I commend you for your duty   
May God’s blessing go with you.

(In shock, the constables remove the handcuffs from Valjean and exit along with the bishop’s sister)

But remember this, my brother   
See in this some higher plan  
You must use this precious silver   
To become an honest man   
Es tu alma lo que compro, es tu alma lo que quiero   
Dios te muestra el camino, hoy tu alma suya es

Scene 9 – Bridge   
(Over heavy traffic in the early morning. Valjean stands near the ledge.)   
What have I done?  
Sweet Jesus, what have I done?  
Become a thief in the night  
Become a dog on the run  
And have I fallen so far  
And is the hour so late  
That nothing remains but the cry of my hate,  
The cries in the dark that nobody hears,  
Here where I stand at the turning of the years?  
If there's another way to go  
I missed it twenty long years ago  
My life was a war that could never be won  
They gave me a number and murdered Valjean  
When they chained me and left me for dead  
Just for stealing a mouthful of bread  
Yet why did I allow that man  
To touch my soul and teach me love?  
He treated me like any other  
He gave me his trust  
He called me brother  
My life he claims for God above  
Can such things be?  
For I had come to hate this world  
This world which had always hated me  
Take an eye for an eye!  
Turn your heart into stone!  
This is all I have lived for!  
This is all I have known!  
One word from him and I'd be back  
Beneath the lash, upon the rack  
Instead he offers me my freedom,  
I feel my shame inside me like a knife  
He told me that I have a soul,  
How does he know?  
What spirit comes to move my life? Is there another way to go?  
(Steps on the ledge)

I am reaching, but I fall  
And the night is closing in  
And I stare into the void  
To the whirlpool of my sin  
I'll escape now from the world  
From the world of Jean Valjean  
Jean Valjean is nothing now  
Another story must begin!  
(He tears his yellow ticket-of-leave)  
Scene 10 – Outside of Factory in Rural America   
(There’s a riot outside of a deteriorating factory. A group composed primarily of whites of mixed genders angrily protests with signs like “Give Us Our Jobs Back,” “We want jobs not handouts,” “NO NAFTA,” and “Union jobs = good jobs.” A fence keeps them out.)   
Poor Chorus  
At the end of the day you’re another day older   
And that’s all you can say for the life of the poor  
It’s a struggle, it’s a war  
And there’s nothing that anyone’s giving   
One more day, standing about, what is it for?  
One day less to be living.  
At the end of the day you’re another day colder  
And the shirt on your back doesn’t keep out the chill  
And the righteous hurry past   
They don’t hear the little ones crying   
And the winter is coming on fast, ready to kill  
One day nearer to dying!   
At the end of the day there’s another day dawning   
And the sun in the morning is waiting to rise  
Like the waves crash on the sand  
Like a storm that’ll break any second  
There’s a hunger in the land  
There’s a reckoning still to be reckoned   
And there’s gonna be hell to pay  
At the end of the day!   
(Cut to the inside of the factory. Again, mostly whites of mixed genders working. It’s a manufacturing shop. Based on their materials and posters, it can be seen they are making essentially useless “Made in China” type trinkets: garden gnomes, generic signs, Christmas ornaments. A fat middle-aged white man – the foreman - sits, overlooking the workers.)  
Foreman   
At the end of the day you get nothing for nothing for nothing   
Sitting flat on your bum doesn’t buy any bread (ironic)  
Female Worker #1  
There are children back at home  
Male Worker #1  
And the children have got to be fed   
Female Worker #2  
And you’re lucky to be in a job  
Foreman (inappropriately pats #2)  
And in a bed!  
Male Worker #1 (threateningly to Foreman)  
And we’re counting our blessings  
(Foreman walks away, another group is featured)  
Female Worker #3   
Have you seen how the foreman is fuming today?  
With his terrible breath and his wandering hands  
Female Worker #4  
It’s because little Fantine (a black female, only non-white worker, who the Foreman is forcibly flirting with while her coworkers look away) won’t give him his way   
Female Worker #5   
Take a look at his trousers, you’ll see where he stands!  
Male Worker #2  
And the boss, he never knows   
That the foreman is always in heat   
Female Worker #4   
If Fantine doesn’t look out  
Watch how she goes   
She’ll be out on the street   
Worker Chorus   
At the end of the day it's another day over  
With enough in your pocket to last for a week  
Pay the landlord pay the shop  
Keep on grafting as long as you're able  
Keep on grafting till you drop  
(Some of the workers leave after getting paid, including Female Workers #1 and #2 and Male Worker #1)  
Or it's back to the crumbs on the table  
You've got to pay your way  
At the end of the day!  
(While checking her flip phone, Fantine is interrupted by Female Worker #4)  
#4  
What have we here, little innocent sister?  
Come on Fantine, let’s have all the news!  
(Takes phone away and reads it)  
“Fantine you must send us more money  
Your child needs a doctor…  
There’s no time to lose!”  
Fantine   
Give that to me   
It is none of your business   
With a husband at home   
And a bit on the side  
Is there anyone here   
Who can swear before God  
She has nothing to fear?  
She has nothing to hide?  
(#4 runs to show the foreman, but Fantine stops her. A fight ensues prompting the remaining workers to form a crowd. The foreman is trying to break it up, as Valjean, disguised as M. Madeleine, arrives.)  
Valjean (as M. Madeleine…he’s dressed wealthier, no longer looks unkempt)   
What is this fighting all about?  
Will someone tear these two apart?  
(Fight naturally breaks up)  
This is a factory, not a circus!  
Now come on ladies, settle down  
I run a business of repute   
I am the Mayor of this town   
(to foreman) I look to you to sort this out   
And be as patient as you can –  
(Foreman waits until “Valjean” enters his office.)  
Foreman   
Now someone say how this began!  
#4  
(before Fantine can speak) At the end of the day she's the one who began it  
There's a kid that she's hiding in some little town  
There's a man she has to pay  
You can guess how she picks up the extra  
You can bet she's earning her keep sleeping around  
And the boss wouldn't like it!

(Foreman looks at her in disbelief)

Fantine 

Yes it's true there's a child  
And the child is my daughter  
And her father abandoned us leaving us flat  
Now she lives with an innkeeper man and his wife  
And I pay for the child  
What's the matter with that?

(Fantine begs the foreman as her co-workers form a circle around her.) 

Spiteful Worker Chorus 

At the end of the day she'll be nothing but trouble  
And there's trouble for all when there's trouble for one  
While we're earning our daily bread  
She's the one with her hands in the butter  
You must send the slut away  
Or we're all gonna end in the gutter  
And it's us who'll have to pay  
At the end of the day!

Foreman 

(at this point Fantine is on her knees) 

I might have known the bitch could bite  
I might have known the cat had claws  
I might have guessed your little secret  
Ah, yes, the virtuous Fantine  
Who keeps herself so pure and clean  
You'd be the cause I had no doubt  
Of any trouble hereabout  
(whispered to Fantine) You play a virgin in the light  
But need no urgin' in the night.

(Fantine slaps the foreman)

#4

She’s been laughing at you   
While she’s having her men 

Spiteful Chorus

She’ll be nothing but trouble again and again   
You must sack her today   
Sack the girl today!

Foreman 

(recovering from the slap)  
Right my girl!   
On your way… 

(The foreman forcibly removes Fantine from the factory, without paying her, as she pleads with him. He throws her on the street. Javert, promoted and looking slightly older, walks past Fantine with little notice. She enters the factory, as Fantine’s former co-workers gape. Javert goes right to Valjean’s office and enters it after two knocks. Valjean, petrified with fear, is immobile at his desk.)

Javert

I introduce myself,  
Inspector of Police.   
I’ve come to take the watch   
I’m here to keep the peace.  
Please know me as Javert.

I’m here at your command   
With honour due to each.   
With justice in our hands  
No man’s beyond our reach.   
Let all beware. 

Valjean 

Welcome, ma’am  
Come guard of our laws  
I’m sure we’re here  
In common cause. 

Javert 

It seems to me   
We may have met.

Valjean 

Your face is not a face   
I would forget. 

Scene 11 – Derelict Hallway   
(Two U.S. navy men strut the hall of what looks like a dilapidated hotel. All of the doors are closed.) 

 

Sailor #1

I smell women   
Smell em’ in the air   
Think I’ll drop my anchor  
In that harbor over there (referencing a closed door)

Sailor #2

Lovely ladies  
Smell ‘em through the smoke  
Seven days at sea  
Can make you hungry for a poke 

(At this point the two men position themselves directly outside of a door, about 10 other men of diverse race, age, profession, and socio-economic classes do the same)

Sailor #1

Even stokers need a little stoke!

(All of the doors open as the prostitutes emerge)

Prostitutes

Lovely Ladies  
Waiting for a bite  
Waiting for the customer  
Who only comes at night  
Lovely ladies  
Waiting for the call   
Standing up or lying down   
Or any way at all   
Bargain prices up against the wall 

(Transition to a shady pawn shop in the afternoon…Fantine approaches the front desk)

Pawn Shop Woman 

Come here, my dear   
Let’s see this trinket you wear  
This bagatelle…

Fantine   
Madame, I’ll sell it to you…

Pawn Shop Woman 

I’ll give you forty 

Fantine 

That wouldn’t pay for the chain 

Pawn Shop Woman 

I’ll give you fifty, you’re far too eager to sell, it’s up to you. 

Fantine 

It’s all I have 

Pawn Shop Woman 

That’s not my fault

Fantine 

Please make it a hundred

Pawn Shop Woman 

No more than fifty   
My dear, we all must stay alive! 

(Transition back to prostitutes with their patrons)

Prostitutes

Old men, young men, take 'em as they come  
Harbor rats and alley cats and every type of scum

 

Solo Prostitute 

Poor men, rich men, leaders of the land  
See them with their trousers off they're never quite as grand

 

Prostitutes   
All it takes is money in your hands!

(Fantine is begging on the street in the morning with a sign that says ‘Any help is appreciated – God Bless!!!’ An older female African American vagrant with little hair approaches Fantine.) 

Older Woman 

What pretty hair   
What pretty locks you got there   
What luck you got, it’s worth a centime my dear  
(touches her hair)  
I’ll take the lot

Fantine 

Don’t touch me leave me alone

Older Woman

Let’s make a price, I’ll give you two hundred bucks  
Just think of that!

Fantine 

It pays a debt

Older Woman 

Just think of that 

Fantine 

What can I do? It pays a debt.  
Two hundred may save my poor Cosette!

(Transition back to prostitutes, as they are finishing up and the men are leaving) 

Patrons 

Lovely lady!  
Fastest on the street  
Wasn't there three minutes  
She was back up on her feet  
Lovely lady!  
What yer waiting for?  
Doesn't take a lot of savvy  
Just to be a whore  
Come on, lady  
What's a lady for?

Prostitutes (in counterpoint)

Lovely ladies  
Lovely little girls  
Lovely ladies  
Lovely little ladies  
Lovely girlies  
Lovely little girls  
We are lovely, lovely girls  
Lovely ladies  
What's a lady for?

(As the men exit the discreet entrance at night, they notice Fantine, now bald, begging just outside the door. As the charismatic trafficker sends the men off, he notices the vulnerable Fantine. At least one of the patrons gives Fantine some money.) 

Trafficker (to solo prostitute) 

Give me the dirt, who’s that bit over there?

Solo Prostitute

A bit of skirt, she’s the one sold her hair.  
She’s got a kid sends her all that she can. 

Trafficker

I might have known   
There is always some man  
(Tries to entice Fantine, she rejects him)   
Lovely lady, come along and join us!  
Lovely lady! 

(Trafficker looks to solo prostitute, she motions to him like she’s got it covered)

Solo Prostitute

Come on dearie, why all the fuss?  
You’re no grander than the rest of us  
Life has dropped you at the bottom of the heap  
Join your sisters, make money in your sleep!

(A policeman approaches the trafficker and begins to chat with him. The trafficker keeps glancing at Fantine. Fantine stands up and approaches the policeman.)

Solo Prostitute

That’s right dearie, let him have the lot 

 

Trafficker 

That’s right dearie, show him what you’ve got!

Fantine 

(sung as she takes the officer to the room pointed out to her by the trafficker)

Come on, Captain  
You can wear your shoes  
Don't it make a change  
To have a girl who can't refuse  
Easy money  
Lying on a bed  
Just as well they never see  
The hate that's in your head  
Don't they know they're making love  
To one already dead!

(Fantine is raped. The man leaves. Fantine goes outside in the cold and sits by what looks like a theater. She does not look approachable. Throughout the song, people pass her, trying to avert their gaze.) 

There was a time when men were kind  
When their voices were soft  
And their words inviting  
There was a time when love was blind  
And the world was a song  
And the song was exciting  
There was a time  
Then it all went wrong  
I dreamed a dream in time gone by  
When hope was high  
And life worth living  
I dreamed that love would never die  
I dreamed that God would be forgiving  
Then I was young and unafraid  
And dreams were made and used and wasted  
There was no ransom to be paid  
No song unsung  
No wine untasted  
But the tigers come at night  
With their voices soft as thunder  
As they tear your hope apart  
And they turn your dream to shame  
He slept a summer by my side  
He filled my days with endless wonder  
He took my childhood in his stride  
But he was gone when autumn came  
And still I dream he'll come to me  
That we will live the years together  
But there are dreams that cannot be  
And there are storms we cannot weather  
I had a dream my life would be  
So much different from this hell I'm living  
So different now from what it seemed  
Now life has killed  
The dream I dreamed.  
(A wide-shot reveals the boujee people exiting the theater who, according to the sign, just saw “Les Miserables.”) 

Scene 12 – Bedroom in the Hallway   
(Fantine is preparing in her room. She looks visibly ill and malnourished. She puts on a fake smile and seductively opens the door when a familiar figure is seen.)   
Foreman   
(flaunting)  
Now here’s something, I think I’ll give it a try.  
Come closer you! I like to see what I buy   
The usual price, for just a slice of your pie  
Fantine  
I don’t want you, no, no, m’sieur let me go.  
Foreman  
Is this a trick? I won’t pay more.   
Fantine   
(shaking)  
No, not at all.   
Foreman   
You’ve got some nerve, Fantine  
You’ve got some gall.  
It’s the same with a tart as it is with a grocer  
The customer sees what he gets in advance  
It’s not for the whore to say ‘yes sir’ or ‘no sir’  
It’s not for the harlot to pick or to choose  
Or lead me to dance!  
(Fantine seriously hits him with a strong object)  
Fantine   
I’ll kill you, you bastard, try any of that!  
Even a whore who has gone to the bad  
Won’t be had by a rat   
(The foreman, injured, is hurriedly going away. The trafficker appears trying to discern what is happening.)  
Foreman   
By Christ you’ll pay for what you have done  
This rat will make you bleed, you’ll see  
I guarantee, I’ll make you suffer  
For this disturbance of the peace  
For this insult to life and property!  
Fantine  
(running after him)  
I beg you, don’t report me sir  
I’ll do whatever you may want  
Foreman  
Make your excuse to the police!  
(In a similar manner to Valjean’s arrest, Fantine is arrested, dragged from the hallway as her fellow prostitutes fearfully look on, and handcuffed on the ground by officers while Javert gets the story from the foreman)  
Javert   
Tell me quickly what's the story  
You saw what and why and where  
Give me a full description  
And she will answer to Javert!

Foreman   
Javert, would you belive it  
I was crossing from the park  
When this prostitute attacked me  
You can see she left her mark

Javert 

She will answer for her actions  
When you make a full report  
You may rest assured, M'sieur,  
That she will answer to the court.

(At this time, Valjean appears in the crowd. People in the crowd are taking photos of the scandalous event on flip and keyboard phones and digital cameras and videorecorders.) 

Fantine 

There’s a child who sorely needs me  
Please Madame, she’s but that high   
Holy God, is there no mercy?  
If I go to jail she’ll die!

Javert 

I have heard such protestations  
Every day for twenty years  
Let's have no more explanations  
Save your breath and save your tears  
Honest work, just reward,  
That's the way to please the Lord.

(Valjean gives a threating glare to the pathetic-looking foreman, as he approaches Javert)

Valjean 

A moment of your time, Javert   
I do believe this woman’s tale

Javert

But M’sieur Mayor!

Valjean 

You’ve done your duty  
Let her be  
She needs a doctor, not a jail.

Javert

But M’sieur Mayor!

Fantine 

Can this be?

Valjean 

(approaches Fantine)  
Where will she end-  
This child without a friend?

I’ve seen your face before  
Show me some way to help you   
How have you come to grief   
In such a place as this?

Fantine

M’sieur don’t mock me now, I pray  
It’s hard enough I’ve lost my pride   
You let your foreman send me away   
Yes, you were there, and turned aside  
(Foreman shamefully walks away)  
I never did no wrong

Valjean 

Is it true, what I have done?  
To an innocent soul?  
Had I only known then…

Fantine (in counterpoint)  
My daughter’s close to dying  
If there’s a God above  
He’d let me die instead 

Valjean 

In His name my task has just begun   
I will see it done!  
(to policeman) Take this woman to the hospital!

Javert

But M’sieur Mayor!

Valjean

I will see it done!

Javert

But M’sieur Mayor!

Valjean   
(forcefully said to Javert) I will see it done! (Crashing sound. A major car accident has just occurred.) 

Individual Voices in the Crowd

Look at that!  
Look at that!  
It’s Monsieur Fauchelevant!  
Stay away, turn away,  
There is nothing to do…

(Crowd is once again taking photos and recording video on their phones and cameras.) 

Valjean

Is there anyone here  
Who will rescue the man?  
Who will help me to shoulder   
The weight of the car?

Individual Voices

Don’t go near him, Mr. Mayor  
The load is heavy as hell  
The old man’s a goner for sure  
It’ll kill you as well!

(Valjean goes to fiery wreckage. He lifts, but makes little progress. Eventually, with a scream, he is able to slightly lift the car. This inspires members of the crowd to also help to lift the car, which they are able to do successfully, enabling other persons to bring out Monsieur Fauchelevant – an elderly African American man.)

Fauchelevant

M’sieur le Mayor, I have no words  
You come from God, you are a saint. 

(By this point the Fantine incident is forgotten, as paramedics take away Fauchelevant and most of the crowd dissipates essentially leaving just Valjean and Javert, who is in utter shock.) 

Javert  
Can this be true?  
I don't believe what I see!  
(Valjean turns)  
A man your age  
To be as strong as you are...  
A memory stirs..  
You make me think of a man  
From years ago  
A man who broke his parole  
He disappeared  
Forgive me, Sir,  
I would not dare!  
Valjean  
Say what you must, don't leave it there.  
Javert  
I have only known one other  
Who can do what you have done  
He's a convict from the chain gang  
He's been ten years on the run  
But he couldn't run forever  
We have found his hideaway  
And he's just been re-arrested  
And he comes to court today.  
Of course he now denies it  
You'd expect that of a con  
But he couldn't run forever,  
No, not even Jean Valjean!

Scene 13 – Valjean’s Bedroom   
(Valjean is kneeling in prayer at his bedside)  
Valjean  
He thinks that man is me!  
He knew him at a glance!  
That stranger he has found  
This man could be my chance  
Why should I save his hide  
Why should I right this wrong  
When I have come so far  
And struggled for so long?  
If I speak, I am condemned  
If I stay silent, I am damned!  
I am the master of hundreds of workers  
They all look to me  
How can I abandon them, how can they live  
If I am not free?  
If I speak, I am condemned  
If I stay silent, I am damned!  
Who am I?  
Can I condemn this man to slavery  
Pretend I do not see his agony  
This innocent who bears my face  
Who goes to judgement in my place  
Who am I?  
Can I conceal myself for evermore?  
Pretend I'm not the man I was before?  
And must my name until I die  
Be no more than an alibi?  
Must I lie?  
How can I ever face my fellow man?  
How can I ever face myself again?  
My soul belongs to God, I know  
I made that bargain long ago  
He gave me hope, when hope was gone  
He gave me strength to journey on  
Who am I?  
Who am I?  
I am Jean Valjean!  
(Valjean rushes to write something. The next shot shows a page sprinting to get this letter to Javert. Valjean is not seen, as Javert emotionlessly reads the message.)  
And so Javert, you see it’s true,  
That man bears no more guilt than you!  
Who am I?  
24601!  
(Shot shows Javert looking at a manila folder featuring Valjean’s mugshot of him holding the number “24601.”)  
Scene 14 – Clinic   
(A very ill Fantine is lying in a bed being tended to by nuns. The nuns leave, and Fantine deliriously sings to her daughter, Cosette.)  
Fantine  
Cosette, it's turned so cold  
Cosette, it's past your bedtime  
You've played the day away  
And soon it will be night.  
Come to me, Cosette, the light is fading  
Don't you see the evening star appearing?  
Come to me, and rest against my shoulder  
How fast the minutes fly away and every minute colder.  
Hurry near, another day is dying  
Don't you hear, the winter wind is crying?  
There's a darkness which comes without a warning  
But I will sing you lullabyes and wake you in the morning.  
[Valjean enters.]  
Valjean  
Oh, Fantine, our time is running out  
But Fantine, I swear this on my life  
Fantine  
Look, M'sieur, where all the children play  
Valjean  
Be at peace, be at peace evermore.  
Fantine  
My Cosette...  
Valjean  
Shall live in my protection  
Fantine  
Take her now  
Valjean  
Your child will want for nothing  
Fantine  
Good M'sieur, you come from God in Heaven.  
Valjean  
And none will ever harm Cosette  
As long as I am living.  
Fantine  
Take my hand,  
The night grows ever colder.  
Valjean  
Then I will keep you warm.  
Fantine  
Take my child, I give her to your keeping.  
Valjean  
Take shelter from the storm  
Fantine  
For God's sake, please stay till I am sleeping  
And tell Cosette I love her  
And I'll see her when I wake...  
(Fantine dies, Javert appears)  
Valjean (to Fantine)  
And this I swear to you tonight  
Javert  
There is no place for you to hide  
Valjean  
Your child will live within my care  
Javert  
Wherever you may hide away  
Valjean  
And I will raise her to the light.  
Valjean & Javert  
I swear to you, I will be there!  
(Valjean acknowledges Javert)   
Javert  
Valjean, at last,  
We see each other plain  
`M'sieur le Mayor',  
You'll wear a different chain.  
Valjean  
Before you say another word, Javert  
Before you chain me up like a slave again  
Listen to me! There is something I must do.  
This woman leaves behind a suffering child.  
There is none but me who can intercede,  
In Mercy's name, three days are all I need.  
Then I'll return, I pledge my word.  
Then I'll return...  
Javert  
You must think me mad!  
I've hunted you across the years  
A man like you can never change  
A man... such as you...  
Valjean (in counterpoint)  
Believe of me what you will  
There is a duty that I'm sworn to do   
You know nothing of my life  
All I did was steal some bread  
You know nothing of the world  
You would rather see me dead  
But not before I see this justice done  
I am warning you Javert  
I'm a stronger man by far  
There is power in me yet  
My race is not yet run  
I am warning you Javert  
There is nothing I won't dare  
If I have to kill you here  
I'll do what must be done!  
Javert (in counterpoint)  
Men like you can never change  
Men like you can never change  
No, 24601,  
My duty's to the law  
You have no rights  
Come with me 24601  
Now the wheel has turned around  
Jean Valjean is nothing now  
Dare you talk to me of crime  
And the price you had to pay  
Every man is born in sin  
Every man must choose his way  
You know nothing of Javert  
I was born inside a jail  
I was born with scum like you  
I am from the gutter too!  
(Javert takes out her gun. A loud noise is heard off-screen, which distracts Javert long enough for Valjean to use a stun gun on Javert. Javert lies motionless. Valjean escapes through a front entrance and nods his head at nuns who are cleaning up after a standalone cabinet carrying kitchen supplies “broke.”)

**Author's Note:**

> You can read more of my stuff here: https://www.tumblr.com/blog/leslieknopebutsassier


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